I'm not entirely certain how I feel about the way they do the bricks on the interior- it almost looks like they take the casting refractory, color it, and add wet refractory 'bricks' to the interior when they cast it, rather than using fire bricks. That being said, I'd gladly take a faux brick or even a full refractory low dome oven over any of the hundreds of high dome ovens out there.

And this, like many ovens, is a multi-piece unit so your contractor should be fine with it.

I don't want to get defensive about my product but I would like to clarify the manufacturing process of the FGM brick dome.

The brick dome is build with refractory bricks and refractory mortar over a mold, just like you would when building one from scratch. The bricks used are high quality refractory bricks. Because the oven is going to be shipped and designed to be used everyday commercially, they need to add some strengths to the dome. For that they pour over the dome a refractory concrete reinforced with metal fiber. As a side note, there is no difference in quality between the ovens used by a business and in a residence. This is a very modern technique that will insure your oven will last, literally for decades, and no other manufacturer has the technology to do that.

The low dome is ideal for the Neapolitan pizza and there is a raised option for those who want a higher dome. The raised dome option is built exactly the same way as the dome, with real refractory bricks. Not to make a stand for my product but it is a really impressive piece of engineering. I have sold many of these ovens, including in Canada, they have supported the shipping without any damage and have been lasting through the very cold winters.

I hope this clarifies some of the questions I have seen about the quality of the FGM WFO.

Best regards,

Antoine

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WFO cooking is about passion.

scott123

Antoine, I stated a concern that these are refractory (cast) bricks made to look like traditional (fired in a kiln) firebricks and that they are not actually firebricks. Your answer doesn't invalidate that concern.

If these bricks are cast and not fired, you're basically talking about the same material as your refractory 'mortar,' so, rather than a traditional firebrick + refractory mortar oven, this is basically all cast refractory (in gray mortar color and brick color). Traditional kilned firebricks, are, by their nature, a more physically and thermally durable product than cast refractory. High quality refractory that's been expertly casted isn't going to be much less durable than firebricks, but it's still not exactly the same thing, and selling a wood fired 'brick' oven that doesn't actually contain kilned bricks may not be fraudulent, but, if this is the case, it would rub me the wrong way.

So, are these traditional kilned firebricks or are they a similar cast refractory material to the rest of the oven, but in a different color?

So, are these traditional kilned firebricks or are they a similar cast refractory material to the rest of the oven, but in a different color?

Ok, I see your point. There definitely are a lot of manufacturer who take short cuts, make a cheap product and charge big $ for it

The reason I work with Four Grand Mere it is because it is the real deal, very high quality, no short cuts at a good price. We are about doing it right and serving the WFO community

The bricks used for the dome are refractory bricks or firebricks made of clay containing a minimum of 40% alumina, cold pressed and fired in a kiln at very high temperature. The bricks are made to support over 1500 C or 2700 F, without cracking. Most likely your oven will never get that hot or at least I don't recommend it.Same quality bricks, shaped in tiles, are used for the oven floor.Attached is a picture of the bricks used for the dome. As you can see they have a unique shape and are specially made for WFO. They are assembled by hand to make the dome.

I think all of the oven come as a kit including the 800. My kit came with the oven, a metal door, a concrete door to do close oven baking, the chimney pipe connection that has a damper ( I think it is so you can use it like a smoker) and the insulation for the floor and the dome. The cool stuff was the mortar uses to do the joint is like a fire clay that doesn't requires drying time. I had my oven installed in no time and was able to make a fire in it the same day. 3 days of curing and it was good to go.Customer service was really good too.

If you have not done so already, PM RobynB and ask her about this oven.

Craig

***********************************************************that's a big oven isn't it ? :-) I'm concerned about depth/bulk and don't think I'll be cookinga lot in it. It's just my husband and myself and occasional parties. I think you said to get at least36" cooking space, so I guess the 950 fits that bill.

thanks for the help. I'm still confused about what size I should get and also need to be sure of quality. I don't want an inferior oven.

Comments from the members here?

Your best bet is to get something at least 36" or above. There are always posts(here or somewhere else) of people who have gotten smaller ovens and within a short time say they wished they got a bigger one for more baking/cooking space. You never read anything about someone who got a bigger oven and wished they went smaller.

If you get a small oven your going to be baking very close to the fire/coals and your "room for error" is going to be very small, like within a couple inches and couple seconds. If you have a bigger oven you will have a lot more space to bake pizza, bread, roast and whatever else. Though you will be baking only one pizza at a time you will love the fact that you have the space, you wont have that with a smaller oven. You will also be able to bake bigger pizzas(16"-18" depending on your door weight) or cook multiple dishes at the same time. Another thing that smaller ovens suffer from is cooling down very fast. This might not be an issue if you don't want to use the residual heat for baking/cooking other things for the next couple days. But if you do you will probably need to re-fire in a smaller one unlike a bigger oven which has the mass and more insulation.

Your best bet is to get something at least 36" or above. There are always posts(here or somewhere else) of people who have gotten smaller ovens and within a short time say they wished they got a bigger one for more baking/cooking space. You never read anything about someone who got a bigger oven and wished they went smaller.

If you get a small oven your going to be baking very close to the fire/coals and your "room for error" is going to be very small, like within a couple inches and couple seconds. If you have a bigger oven you will have a lot more space to bake pizza, bread, roast and whatever else. Though you will be baking only one pizza at a time you will love the fact that you have the space, you wont have that with a smaller oven. You will also be able to bake bigger pizzas(16"-18" depending on your door weight) or cook multiple dishes at the same time. Another thing that smaller ovens suffer from is cooling down very fast. This might not be an issue if you don't want to use the residual heat for baking/cooking other things for the next couple days. But if you do you will probably need to re-fire in a smaller one unlike a bigger oven which has the mass and more insulation.

*******************************************Thank you so much!! I didn't know all this and your explanation makes perfect sense. See, I really need some help, haha!!So I guess the 900 makes more sense to me now.

*******************************************Thank you so much!! I didn't know all this and your explanation makes perfect sense. See, I really need some help, haha!!So I guess the 900 makes more sense to me now.

No problem. This forum is definitely the best place to come if you need questions answered.

***************************************************We are hoping to build a fireplace along with the oven, but I'm not a fan of the huge structure that we would have to build in order to have both. My contractor is toying around with the idea of using a vent free fireplace under or off to the side of the oven. We don't need the fireplace for heat, just ambiance. I just don't want a big wall of brick. Thanks for pic - I'll look at it a little better.

***********************************************************that's a big oven isn't it ? :-) I'm concerned about depth/bulk and don't think I'll be cookinga lot in it. It's just my husband and myself and occasional parties. I think you said to get at least36" cooking space, so I guess the 950 fits that bill.

Yes, it's a 37" inch oven.

When you spend the money to buy what you really want, you only cry once...

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"We make great pizza, with sourdough when we can, commercial yeast when we must, but always great pizza." Craig's Neapolitan Garage

I agree with everyone else. FGM ovens seem to be a cut above any other kit ovens currently on the market. I liked them before this thread, but with the new info here I'm all the more impressed. The way they do those bricks is exactly as I imagined it. Top notch.

Thanks everyone, your input and opinions are helping me a bunch. My contractor (also close friend) will be here today and we are going to discuss the oven and fireplace design. (and do a little grilling !) So it would really help him if I'm close to making a decision on the oven so he has some clue what he will be working with. The FGM oven is a top contender right now.